Ghost Blowing Lantern II

There seems to be an invisible ghost in the sky over the grassland. Although our eyes cannot identify it, the wild geese and cattle swallowed by the sky, as well as the panicked mounts, all show that there is something real in the sky. There is something terrible and unknown in the world, and without knowing the truth, we are forced to choose to avoid it.

No one noticed at first that the retired military horse that "Lao Sheeppi" was riding actually led us to escape into the nightmare of the grassland herdsmen, the "Baiyan Cave", a hilly area called "Baiyan Cave". , is located at the junction of grassland and desert. To the east is the vast sea of ​​grass, and to the west is the endless Mongolian desert. It is separated by a hilly and undulating mountainous area, forming a typical desertified grassland vegetation zone.

The mountain valley in front of us is overgrown with wild grass and intertwined with ancient trees. If you look down from a high place, this place may look like a huge black and green trap. Although the weather was sunny at that time, the terrain was low-lying and the wind could not blow in. We could only see wisps of mist floating in the waist-deep grass, and there were also bursts of rancid smell. Lao Yangpi pointed to the depths of the mountain col and told us, "Baiyan Cave" "The exact location is actually in the bushes of the mountain col. Back then, his brother was coerced by bandits into this road of no return.

I asked Lao Yangpi where the demonic dragon he saw with his own eyes decades ago was? Is it above this mountain col? Lao Yangpi said that he had never seen so much fog at that time. There was a dense forest in the mountain col, but now I don’t know why there is such a heavy mist. Looking at the dense vegetation in the depths, the fog is so thick that it is almost impossible to dissolve. The place where the dragon was first seen is now covered by fog.

We took a few glances into the forest on horseback, and the fog became thicker as we went deeper. In this case, if there was something hidden there, we wouldn't be able to see it unless we touched it. Lao Sheeppi urged us to leave as soon as we can. If we stay in this ghost place for too long, if something unexpected happens, we may not be able to leave in time. The herdsmen cannot be found now. Will they be beaten or punished when we return? I also admit it, it would be better not to stay here and lose my life.

Although Fatty and I couldn't help but want to go into the forest to see what was inside, considering the personal safety of Ding Sitian and Lao Yangpi, we had to give up the idea and immediately turned our horses' heads to leave, especially Lao Yangpi. Not wanting to stay here for more than a moment, I wanted to take a shortcut and ride my horse over a grass hill. Unexpectedly, there were many hidden rat holes on the lower slope. Usually the entrances of the holes are covered with grass and cannot be seen at all. What the herdsmen are most afraid of is, It is to sink the horse's leg into the mouse hole, which can easily cause the horse's leg fracture.

Ding Sitian's horse, the bay-red horse, just happened to step into such a mouse hole. The entrance to the hole was filled with grass roots and sand, and it was a steep slope. The horse's weight was already heavy. After stepping on the mouse hole, the horse's foot collapsed. The bay-red horse was carrying Ding Sitian. Immediately, it stumbled to the side, and the horse neighed sadly, and the front leg bones were suddenly broken.

Fortunately, Ding Sitian was light and was thrown by the maroon horse that lost its center of gravity. She fell onto the long grass and was not injured. Even so, she was so shocked that her face turned pale. Her body was thin. If she was pressed down by the horse, she would at least be injured. Will be seriously injured.

When we saw our companions falling off their horses, we were all shocked and immediately stopped the horses. We were relieved when we saw that Ding Sitian had only fallen into pieces of loess and grass clippings all over her body. I was about to turn over and dismount, but at a glance I caught a glimpse of the horse that had been trampled by the maroon horse. In the mouse hole, a frightened gray-white wild mouse jumped out. The two small eyes on the triangular head of the wild mouse were shining with fear. It was probably closing its eyes in the hole to relax when it was frightened by the sudden horse's hooves and panicked. When Zhong fled, he didn't care about the direction at all, and jumped past Ding Sitian with a "swish".

Ding Sitian landed from her horse, still in shock, when she suddenly saw a big furry mouse running past her eyes. This wild mouse was so fat and big that it could even catch up with a smaller cat, and it was so close. The hair almost touched her face. She screamed in fright and hurriedly shrank her head to avoid it.

According to what I know about her, Ding Sitian is very courageous and is considered an outstanding figure among female educated youths. But what happened just now was sudden and her exclamation was considered outstanding. Even the wild mouse was frightened by her. With a jump, his whole body trembled, he jumped up high on the spot. Before the wild mouse landed in the air, a piece of grass behind Ding Sitian emerged from the grass, and a long "black-spotted centipede" with no head or tail poked out. , the centipede looks like a big centipede, with dark yellow and green body all over. Because it has lived for a long time, it is covered with black spots. The hooks and claws of its gills and feet near its mouth are very sharp. It can catch a wild rat jumping in the air with one mouthful. The hooks of its gills and feet are The small holes on the claws lead to venom glands, and once a living animal is caught, venom will be injected into it. The wild rat will die before it even has time to struggle.

This centipede probably usually crouched in the grass to hunt. Ding Sitian fell off her horse and rolled in front of it, and was about to come out to bite someone, but the unlucky big rat hit the muzzle of the gun first, which saved Ding Sitian's life. , otherwise it would have bitten Ding Sitian silently. All of this happened in an instant. Fatty, Lao Yangpi and I only realized it at this moment. At first, seeing so many legs on this monster, we thought it was just a monster. A big centipede, you can take a closer look and you will see that there are much fewer pairs of opposite legs than a centipede. There are only about ten pairs. The length of the opposite legs is amazing, much wider than its body. The last pair is especially long. Then I know that it is a centipede. He shouted and urged the horse to rescue Ding Sitian.

The centipede swallowed the big rat in one gulp. Although the wild rat was big, it couldn't fill its appetite. It scratched its beards and claws, then turned to bite Ding Sitian. After all, Ding Sitian had been a Red Guard. In the great series of storms and the vast world, After several years of experience, I was faced with a crisis. Although I was very panicked, my hands and feet could still move. When I saw the centipede extending its jaws and legs to bite, I quickly put my hands on the ground and rolled my body away to dodge.

At this time, the other three of us had already rushed to the rescue. The centipede crawled out of the grass completely. Its body was more than one meter long, and its claws were cluttered. It walked very quickly due to its venom and viciousness. It showed no fear in the face of people and horses. , clinging to the grass with a "rustling, rustling..." sound, and pounced on Ding Sitian again.

The fat man raised his hunting gun on the horse and wanted to hit it, but this old-fashioned weapon misfired at the critical moment. Although the gun did not go off, the horse had already jumped over and brought a cloud of loess to the bottom of the slope. The fat man had just stopped the horse. Take it with you. I saw that the centipede was moving very quickly, sliding rapidly on the grass, so it would be best to let the horse trample it to death. So I drove the horse forward and jerked the reins, hoping that the horse's hooves would trample the centipede into mud.